1%, Zharmakhan A.
TUYAKBAI 6.6%, Alikhan M. BAIMENOV 1.6%
note: President NAZARBAYEV arranged a referendum in 1995 that
extended his term of office and expanded his presidential powers:
only he can initiate constitutional amendments, appoint and dismiss
the government, dissolve Parliament, call referenda at his
discretion, and appoint administrative heads of regions and cities

Legislative branch:

bicameral Parliament consists of the Senate (47 seats; 7 members are
appointed by the president; other members are elected by local
assemblies; to serve six-year terms) and the Mazhilis (107 seats; 9
out of the 107 Mazhilis members are elected from the Assembly of the
People of Kazakhstan, which represents the country's ethnic
minorities; members are popularly elected to serve five-year terms)
elections: Senate - (indirect) last held December 2005; next to be
held in 2011; Mazhilis - last held 18 August 2007 (next to be held
in 2012)
election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by
party - NA; Mazhilis - percent of vote by party - Nur-Otan 88.1%,
NSDP 4.6%, Ak Zhol 3.3%, Auyl 1.6%, Communist People's Party 1.3%,
Patriots Party .8% Ruhaniyat .4%; seats by party - Nur-Otan 98; note
- parties must achieve a threshold of 7% of the electorate to
qualify for seats in the Mazhilis

Judicial branch:

Supreme Court (44 members); Constitutional Council (7 members)

Political parties and leaders:

Adilet (Justice) [Maksut NARIKBAYEV, Zeynulla ALSHIMBAYEV, Bakhytbek
AKHMETZHAN, Yerkin ONGARBAYEV, Tolegan SYDYKOV] (formerly Democratic
Party of Kazakhstan); Agrarian and Industrial Union of Workers Block
or AIST (Agrarian Party and Civic Party); Ak Zhol Party (Bright
Path) [Alikhan BAIMENOV]; Auyl (Village) [Gani KALIYEV]; Communist
Party of Kazakhstan or KPK [Serikbolsyn ABDILDIN]; Communist
People's Party of Kazakhstan [Vladislav KOSAREV]; National Social
Democratic Party (NSDP)[Zharmakhan TUYAKBAY]; Nur-Otan [Bakhytzhan
ZHUMAGULOV] (the Agrarian, Asar, and Civic parties merged with
Otan); Patriots' Party [Gani KASYMOV]; Rukhaniyat (Spirituality)
[Altynshash ZHAGANOVA]

Political pressure groups and leaders:

Adil-Soz [Tamara KALEYEVA]; Almaty Helsinki Group [Ninel FOKINA];
Confederation of Free Trade Unions [Sergei BELKIN]; For a Just
Kazakhstan [Bolat ABILOV]; For Fair Elections [Yevgeniy ZHOVTIS,
Sabit ZHUSUPOV, Sergey DUVANOV, Ibrash NUSUPBAYEV]; Kazakhstan
International Bureau on Human Rights [Y